By Courtney Mintenko

Wild fire spreads to Grasslands National Park

Apr 28, 2013 | 12:14 PM

A windy day in south-west Saskatchewan led to an out-of-control fire that burned into the Grasslands National Park Saturday.

“We had a pretty horrendous day,” said Betty Waldner, who lives on a farm near Val Marie, “finally a bit of warm weather and a high wind.”

Waldner believes someone was burning off piles in their field in the area, when the wind took hold of the flames.

“And I mean took off with the wind. It went across a couple fields and jumped the highway and grid road and kept rolling. It eventually got into the Grasslands National Park, and (Saturday night) at 10:30 she was still out of control.”

Waldner was at her home Saturday around 11:30 a.m. when she first noticed smoke. Her family tried to get machinery to the field where the fire was to try and prevent it from spreading.

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There were about 200 people trying to control the blaze Saturday.

Doris Cornfield, whose land was hit by the flames, said countless communities pulled together.

On Sunday morning, around 10:30 a.m. she believed the fire was under control.

“But then again, if the wind comes up, it could explode at any time.”

Parks Canada officers were out on foot with hand sprayers, keeping the fire down to a fairly small area, she said. They weren't out in vehicles because the rough terrain of hills and coulees were too tough to handle on wheels.

Nonetheless, firetrucks, community members, and farmers with water tanks came from areas like Swift Current, Frontier, the R.M. of Mancota, Climax and Val Marie were out in full force after Saturday.

Blaine Clement lost a drive shaft on his truck and had to leave his truck behind at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday night.

He was surprised by how fast the wind blew the fire across the snow, which it melted along the way.

“It would jump a creek that was probably 100 ft. across.”

Cornfield lost a stack of bales and some corral facilities on her land to the fire, which thrived off of brush in the area. According to Clement, camp sites in the national park were also destroyed.

“We're extremely grateful for all of the people who came from miles and miles around with firefighting equipment and did all they could to try to control this enormous blaze.”

As of 11 a.m. on Sunday, Parks Canada was not available to confirm the state of the fire.

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